


Right here with me after the war

by story_forger643



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Family Reunions, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Attempted Suicide, Klaus has made many mistakes, cause he almost destroyed time and space, yet somehow tearing his family apart isn't in the top 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24907108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/story_forger643/pseuds/story_forger643
Summary: Mechanicsburg is free. Klaus is free. Gil...has grown up, and it's time for Klaus to tell him a few things.Little does he know, those were already learned.
Relationships: Gilgamesh "Gil" Wulfenbach & Klaus Wulfenbach, Klaus Wulfenbach & Zeetha Daughter of Chump, Klaus Wulfenbach/Zantabraxus of Skifander, Referenced Agatha Heterodyne & Tarvek Sturmvoraus & Gilgamesh "Gil" Wulfenbach, Tarvek Sturmvoraus & Klaus Wulfenbach
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Right here with me after the war

**Author's Note:**

> I'm alive!
> 
> I'll keep this quick so:
> 
> the Wulfenbachs deserve a family reunion because they are all alive and not evil, so just let them have this, okay?
> 
> TW for references to attempted suicide.
> 
> that's all. enjoy!

“Agatha...this could be the best thing we could hope for-”

“YOU!”

Klaus Wulfenbach could barely believe what he was seeing. He could handle a lost Heterodyne heir who his son happened to be in love with, and who may very well be the Other. He could handle a new type of revenant, quarantining a town, and the political disaster that was about to unfold.

But a Skifandrian? No, no this was too much.

_“Djorok’ku Skifandia VON?!”_

The girl seemed shocked; thinking about it, Klaus realized that she may have not heard her native tongue in a very long time, considering how far away Skifander was.

_“Ah-ah-Zur baken Skiff?!”_

Definitely hadn’t heard of her home in a long time.

_“Kar! Mor baken Skiff!”_

Klaus looked the girl up and down as they spoke. She wore traditional Skifandrian wear, which Zantabraxus had told him was more suited for cold weather-cold weather in Skifander being average weather in Europa-and what looked like simple Europan boots. She had two swords strapped in a harness on her back-also traditional, with the royal crest on them-and wore a headband that mimicked her facial expressions. Gold armbands on her upper arms, a wide stance, a green, somewhat messy mop of long hair which looked familiar, and her eyes-

Klaus almost froze. Her eyes looked just like Zanta’s.

He shook off the shock. He couldn’t focus on the minuscule chance that this could be his daughter. She may still be intent to kill Gil.

“Braka na Zanta-”

The next thing he knew, Lucrezia was standing over him, gloating.

He desperately tried to fight it, to remain conscious, but he blacked out for what seemed like a moment, and an eternity.

* * *

_Pain._

_Buzzing._

_Floating._

_He watched it all happen, it felt like a dream, barely tangible._

_He could control some things, small things, but they were all insignificant compared to the way the wasp commanded him to move, to speak to think._

_He watched the fight, the hospital, his son blow up the army, dammit he was so proud. He watched the Siege of Mechanicsburg, the battle, the Castle being attacked, and him running into Mechanicsburg to freeze the whole thing, because maybe then, his son would be able to do better than him and not be a slave to the Other-_

_Then, his son stood over him, doctors surrounding them. Klaus saw someone offer him a drink. He took it, felt his head almost explode, and then…_

_Then he woke up._

* * *

“Hello there, Herr Baron. How are you feeling?”

Klaus found himself on the floor, a chair knocked over next to him, Sun standing over him. He waited to answer.

“I said how are you feeling, Herr Baron?”

Silence.

“Oh, you can talk now. I should mention that this is common with those freed from wasp control, they often forget that they are in control of their bodies again.”

“What?” Klaus then froze, and realized that he had made the conscious decision to speak. “I mean, what, how…?”

“The Other, when possessing the young Lady Heterodyne, managed to gain control of you with a spark wasp. However, thanks to an ingenious solution that His Majesty Sturmvoraus came up with, the wasp is now dead.”

“Sturmvoraus...wait, what happened? How long have I been controlled?” Klaus finally felt his thoughts begin to come together, and he had so many questions.

“That’s a very long story, Father.”

Klaus turned in the direction of the voice to see Gil standing there, but he looked...different. Older. There were a few more scars. He wore the Wulfenbach sigil around his neck, but the Heterodyne one on his right shoulder and the Sturmvoraus one on his left. And on his belt was...a Skifandrian dagger?!

“Gilgamesh?” Klaus took a step forward. He hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk to his son without Lucrezia’s influence since before Sturmhalten, and in that moment, he had been furious. “Is that really you, son?”

“It is.” Gil walked up to the table that was in the middle of the room and sat down.

“You two have much to discuss. I’ll leave you to it.” And with that, Sun got up and left.

“Sit, Father.” Gil said as the door closed. “We have a lot to talk about.”

* * *

“And then we pulled you out of the Time Stop, and gave you the drink, and well, here we are.”

Klaus sat there thinking. So much had happened when he had been unconscious. The Storm King had changed twice. His son was now romantically involved with the people he had previously considered to be the two most dangerous people on the planet, but now...now Klaus wasn’t so sure. They had traveled together, risked their lives for each other, some had even sacrificed their lives. Klaus had been gone for almost three years, and in that time, they had changed...well, almost everything.

Gilgamesh, his son, had grown up so much. Just looking at him, Klaus could barely imagine the boy he had known when he entered Mechanicsburg, or the boy who couldn’t believe was foolish enough to be tricked by a circus of carnies, or the boy who he had brought to Beetleburg with him so long ago. Gi was grown up, a young man now.

He looked at his son, who was tensely waiting for a response. Klaus sighed, pulled himself up from his seat, and walked over to his son. He bent down, so they could be at eye level. Gil shifted in his chair to turn to his father, and that’s when Klaus crushed him in a hug.

“Father…?”

“I am so _proud_ of you, my son.” Klaus pulled back. “You have grown up so much while I have been gone.”

“Well, I never would have been able to do it if you hadn’t taught me so well-” Gil stuttered, as if looking for a response, and Klaus sighed.

“Gil, everything you did, everything you have done to rebuild Europa, to form a much stronger peace, to stop the Other, has been without me. You didn’t need me for any of that, all you needed was your family, your…”

Klaus paused. “Gil...I’ve been keeping things from you. Secrets that I think-no, I know that you need to know now. There are things I must tell you.”

Gil shifted in anticipation. “Go on…”

Klaus took a deep breath, and pulled up his chair to the side of the table where Gil sat. “Gil, first off, you have grown into a better man than I could have ever expected you to be. You have learned and accomplished so much. And you did this all with the help of your…”

Another deep breath. “Gil, when I was traveling years ago, I came to a place called Skifander.”

Gil’s back noticeably straightened, and he sucked in a breath. Klaus looked up, but Gil deflected it. “Sorry, continue.”

Klaus paused for a moment, and then went on. “There is a term that is used there to describe family that is not related to you. Close friends, lovers, teammates, your mentors, the people who will fight with you until the end. They call it _Sumacan-Chag,_ or battle-family would be the best translation, and they say that the people in your _Sumacan-Chag_ will run deeper than almost any other bond. It’s so important there that it’s considered the most important step in a Skifandrian’s journey to adulthood to find their battle-family.

“This...this brings me to my next point.” Klaus paused. Was he really going to tell Gil-?

Yes. His son was grown now, and needed to know about his other blood family. “Gil, just before you were born-”

He was cut off by the door opening, and he saw a short young woman with short, choppy red hair dressed in purple standing in the doorway.

“Herr Baron-”

Klaus stood up. “Yes?”

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was talking to Gil.”

Klaus sheepishly sat back down.

The girl continued. “Gil, I don’t want to interrupt the reunion, but we need help coordinating pulling Wulfenbach influence out of Mechanicsburg, and the treaty needs a few signatures, so…”

“Understood, Violetta. I’ll be there in a moment.” The girl-Violetta, apparently-nodded and left.

Klaus raised an eyebrow. “A treaty?”

“Trying to rebalance the government powers.” Gil sighed. “Me, Tarvek and Agatha are trying to balance different powers with a mess of treaties, with the House of Valois, the House of Heterodyne, and the House of Wulfenbach all governing different parts of the world, while at the same time attempting to restore some of the power to the Fifty Families, splitting major power and minor-”

Klaus cut him off. “Explain later. Work now, they’ll be waiting for you.”

Gil nodded and got up. “I’ll send in food if I take longer than an hour. If not, then...”

“I’ll be fine. Go run the Empire.”

Gil smiled and walked out the door, leaving Klaus alone.

* * *

Klaus wasn’t sure how long he was alone, but it was enough time to reflect on what Gil had said, and on what he had done.

He had made mistakes. He had waited until his son was eight to tell him that he was his father. He had met a young girl and had instantly tried to imprison her, rather than help her because she might be dangerous. He had frozen Mechanicsburg, which had apparently summoned interdimensional entities and almost destroyed the space-time continuum.

But out of all of those, he regretted abandoning his family the most. Every day, it ate at him; his wife and daughter, left alone, his wife to run a kingdom and raise a child who would be a high target for assassination, and his daughter to grow up without her father or her twin.

He had to tell Gil. He had to let him know that he had more family somewhere, even if he couldn’t go there.

He heard the door open, and looked to see who it was. He was surprised to see Sturmvoraus standing there, looking somewhat nervous.

“What is it?”

“Gil needs to talk to you, sir.”

_Sir._ Not _Herr Baron._ Well, of course not, GIl had presumably resumed that title, leaving him with, well, not much.

“Alright, where is he?”

“I, ah-I need to show it to you. Follow me.”

Klaus got up and followed him out of the room and down the hall. “Alright, Sturmvoraus. Show me the way.”

“You can call me Tarvek, sir. I mean, since we’ll be family soon and...all…” Sturmvoraus trailed off when he saw Klaus’s face.

“Yes, I have heard about the...relationship you and my son have. And the Lady Heterodyne, no less.” Klaus stopped, and looked the young man right in the eye. “Now, tell me this; do you love them both?”

“Uh…” Sturmvoraus stuttered for a minute before regaining control of his panic. “Yes...?”

“And you would never do anything to hurt either of them?”  
  
“No, sir.”

“Good.” Klaus leaned in closer, staring Sturmvoraus right in the eye. “Because if you ever hurt my son, I will kill you, revive you, and kill you again. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“Good.” Klaus took a step back. “Now, where are we going, Tarvek?”

“Right this way.” They walked in silence for a moment, before Tarvek spoke up again. “So you don’t have a problem with the relationship at all?”

“I am concerned about how it will politically play out, but I hope that you can figure it out. I can tell you all really love each other.

“As for the actual relationship, remind me to tell you about the Lost Jungle City of Skifander sometime.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” Tarvek muttered under his breath.

“What?”  
  


“Nothing.” Tarvek came to a halt. “In here.”

Klaus went to open the closed door, only for Tarvek to put his hand on his shoulder. “What is it?”

“Just...stay calm, and don’t freak out when you see them. Trust Gil.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow, and went to open the door.

* * *

Klaus opened the door, saw his son sitting with two other people at a table in the center of the room, and was so shocked that he needed to lean on the wall for support.

_No way._

The first person was the Skifandrian girl from Sturmhalten, but she looked different. She wore a Heterodyne sigil, had a fancy looking hat, and very different clothing, looking more like a sailor’s uniform. She still had the swords and armbands, and the hair and eyes were still strikingly familiar. She was sitting next to Gil, and had her arm around him, hugging him close to her body.

The other was Zantabraxus. Klaus could never not recognize her, with her piercing expression and the way she commanded the room without even speaking. She had grown older, her green hair had been replaced by grey, and her expression was much more guarded than he remembered, as if hiding pain.

Then it hit him.

_He_ was why she was in so much pain. He had abandoned his family, his wife and daughter, and hadn’t even told his son they existed. _This_ was why Gil reacted to him talking about Skifander. Gil had to figure out his family on his own. And it was all Klaus’s fault.

He must have stood there for a while, because Zanta soon broke the silence.

“Chump, darling. It’s been a while, _hasn’t it?_ ” Zanta had a smile on her face, but Klaus could sense the anger behind it.

“Zanta...I...look, I….” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. But to protect Gil-”

Zanta cut him off. “Listen here, Chump. You may have had reasons about what you did to our family, but what you did was wrong. You left Gil to grow up almost alone, you barely looked at him until he was eight, you never even told him he had a sister.

“You could have waited. Or at least you could have told me you were going, instead of sneaking off in the night without even a note. You could have come back one day, but you didn’t. Gil and Zeetha had to find each other, while navigating multiple wars, and then find their way home, all because you couldn’t bother to communicate.” She was shaking, Klaus realized, and he thought about how hard it must have been to raise their daughter-Zeetha, apparently-on her own.

“You may have protected Gilgamesh by running away, but you left Zeetha, and that...do you know how many assasination attempts there were on her by the time she was _ten?_ More than I’ve endured in my entire lifetime. You hurt her, hurt _our daughter,_ so much, you have no idea what she went through.”

Zanta took a deep breath. “You don’t get to say ‘I had to do this.’ You don’t get excuses for this.”

Klaus stood there, frozen, not knowing what to say as Zanta sat back down. He noticed the shocked and frightened expressions on Gil and the girl from Sturmhalten.

_Zeetha._ That had to be Zeetha; who else would it be at a family reunion?

Klaus took a step towards them, shaking. “Zeetha, is that...is it really you?”

Zeetha removed her arm from Gil, and sat up. “Yes.”

They sat there, sitting across from each other, until she spoke up.

“I met you at Sturmhalten. I’m not sure if you remember it, with everything that happened-”

“I remember it very clearly. I remember right before I became Lucrezia’s slave, I saw you, so far from home, and the moment I saw you, I saw Zantabraxus.” Klaus took a breath. “I’m sorry that I tried to kill you, but-”

“You weren’t exactly yourself at that moment, Father.”

Klaus looked to see that it was Gil who spoke, who Zeetha then glared at. They looked at each other for a minute, then Gil nodded and seemed to back off. The wordless interaction seemed to amplify just how much Klaus had missed.

“Don’t blame yourself for what you did when you were under Lucrezia’s control,” said Zeetha, turning back to him. “You’ve got plenty of other things to blame yourself for.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Klaus took a moment to consider his next words. “Your mother said you survived a lot of assisnation attempts?”

Zeetha looked down at her arms. “You have no idea.”

“Family members?”

“Only a few. Most were sent by the High Priestess, who really didn’t want someone with a twin on the throne. There were other random people who wanted revenge on _Kolma_ for...well for a lot of things, and that one guy was just completely insane, and…” Her voice trailed off, until it was barely audible. “...myself.”

She took a deep breath, and was shaking a little. Gil placed his arm around her, hugging her close to him the same way she was doing to him earlier. Klaus watched the moment between his children, and took a long time to think about what to say next.

After a few moments, he got up and walked over to Zeetha. He kneeled down, and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I am so sorry. I was never there for you, and I should have been. Zeetha, leaving you and your mother, tearing our family apart-that is, without a doubt, one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

“Father, we have the past several years trying to fix the space-time continuum and stop interdimensional beings that you summoned by stopping time!” Klaus turned to see Gil, who had jumped on top of the table. “How is that not your biggest mistake?”

Klaus sighed. “I said _one of_ them _,_ Gilgamesh.”

“We’ve been to the corners of the world to try to fix the huge mess that was Europa when you left it, and at least a quarter of that mess was your fault! Breaking our family apart was terrible, but it isn’t even in the top five mistakes you’ve made!”

“I know.”

“And another-what?” Gil stopped in his tracks, completely stunned by the apology.

Klaus sighed. “You think I don’t know how badly I’ve screwed up, Gil? I tore our family apart, and I didn’t even tell you. I never even gave you a hint, that you had a mother, or a sister, or any family other than me. That is the biggest regret of my life. I’m sorry.”

He sat down, with his arms on the table, and put his head in his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

He sat there for a moment, until he felt someone hugging him. He looked up, and saw that it was Zeetha. Pulling himself up, he looked at her, and after a moment, wrapped her in a big hug.

She started shaking, possibly crying, and Klaus held her closer, tighter, as if he was clinging on for his life. A moment later, Gil joined in, and Klaus wrapped his arms around his son as well, holding his two children together for the first time in over two decades.

“Ahem.”

Klaus looked up to see Zanta, standing with her arms crossed. Gil and Zeetha looked at each other, then shifted to a more open stance, and Zanta came in to join them. Klaus held his family for a moment, and then, for the first time in years, truly felt happy.

* * *

“...so you knew you two were twins for _how long_ and didn’t tell him?”

“Hey, Gil had so much to deal with I was pretty sure that telling him that might be what finally breaks him.”

“...fair.”

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, that's a wrap for now. I am back, and hopefully for a while, but I had to take a break cause I had no time to write during finals and quarantine and a motherfucking revolution. Just...jeez, this world is so fucked up.
> 
> "Kolma" is the Skifandrian word for "mother", which the Discord people helped me come up with, so thank you to them. It's similar to "Kolee", as the influence of parents is similar to that of a Kolee.
> 
> Not sure if everyone is a bit OOC in this, but it's been a while since I've written anything.
> 
> I want to get the rewrites of the final chapter of Gilgamesh Wulfenbach's Circus of Adventure out by the end of this week, but I guess just wait and see.
> 
> please leave feedback, advice, constructive criticism, etc they are very helpful
> 
> All Cops Are Bastards, Save Earth and Trans Right. Thank you and goodnight!


End file.
